After the Flood

It's been a little while since I did a flood update, so here it is! This week I had two sessions--one in Iowa City and another that was a reschedule from last week. At that time last week we had no way to get to each other--the roads were still covered in water and closed. Today I drove across the I-80 bridge for the first time since the flood. It's hard to believe that just one week ago it was inaccessible. We are fortunate the bridge there stayed intact. You can see where the water level was, as the bottom half of the trees are brown with dead leaves and debris, while the leaves on the top half are still green. It's a strange sight to see! Unfortunately, since the interstate was open and I was driving 70 MPH (yes, 5 over the limit), you will have to just picture it in your mind. :)

I drove across the Cedar Valley bridge on my way to Iowa City the other day and was shocked to see how low the water is compared to a week ago. It's truly amazing to see after the fact! In Iowa City, many businesses still have sandbags piled around them, and signs of the floodwaters are evident in the brown, dingy sediment, dead foliage, water lines on buildings...I got to Coralville and chickened out. I just couldn't bring myself to drive down the strip--made up an excuse about needing to get home and not wanting to get stuck in traffic, but really I just don't know if I'm ready to deal with the loss of so many familiar places.

So, today I only have new photos of Rochester, from the workday this past weekend. It is somehow therapeutic to be able to go there and help in some small way. It's not hard to leave with positive feelings of recovery after spending time with others in the community, all pitching in, working together, talking about rebuilding and even joking around. Unfortuantely I had another commitment that day and was only able to work a few hours, though I'm sure my puny arm muscles and aching back thank me! :)

The highway at the entrance of the community (see photos in previous posts), leading to the miraculously-still-intact (but still closed) Rochester Bridge. The highway really took a beating.


Skidloaders and the beginnings of sandbag piles in the street.


Most of the day was spent pulling sandbags from where they were stacked around the homes, tossing them into the waiting skids, which would then deposit them on the street, to be picked up and disposed of. Sandbags are heavy enough by themselves...but these were full of WET sand!


Get to work!


Ever-growing piles...of slimy, very bad-smelling, wet sandbags...




This is the street shown in several previous posts. Where I stood to take this photo was only days ago covered in water. To the left of the truck at the end of the road is the street sign on the corner where the daycare sits. The river is now back within its banks, at regular "flood stage" level.


Water line


The business behind the daycare...I made a mark on the photo to emphasize where the water line is (hard to see on a small file), to show how far it was above the sandbags.


Ready to start on the daycare--a sandbag driven by the current and shattering the basement window is what let the water in. The basement interior has been gutted by now, so it was time to clean up the remains of the flood on the outside.






Finally the last sandbag is gone!


After I left the volunteers and residents continued to move down the streets, clearing sandbags from around the houses and then helping clean up inside as well. Ironically, it hasn't rained in a week and now we really need it--to wash away all the grime from the flood. There is still a lot of work to be done and some homes that could not be saved. Unfortunately the decreased water levels in our area only means that it has moved elsewhere to wreak havoc on other communities downstream. Continue to keep all of the people affected by the '08 flood in your thoughts and prayers!